History ComicBook / SabrinaTheTeenageWitch

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''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a long-running character published by Franchise/ArchieComics, who first appeared in ''Archie's Mad House'' #22 (October, 1962). The comic focuses on the adventures of Sabrina Spellman, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a teenaged witch]] who lives with her two aunts, Hilda and Zelda, who (being witches themselves) tutor Sabrina on the use of her powers. Sabrina's traditional adventures usually involved Sabrina getting into some magic-oriented hijinks either caused by or resolved by the use of her powers. Also appearing in the Sabrina comics were Sabrina's boyfriend, Harvey, and her pet cat, Salem.

After the debut of [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch the live-action sitcom of the same name]] and the subsequent [[WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries animated series adaptation]], the comic was {{Re Tool}}ed to match the sitcom and animated series' interpretations of the characters. Sabrina's hometown was finally named "Greendale" (as it was named in the animated series; the earlier stories either didn't name her hometown or featured her living in Riverdale alongside Archie and the others, though Greendale is a neighboring town), while Hilda and Zelda were given makeovers to look more like typical modern women (before, they were drawn as traditional Halloween-style witches). Finally, Salem, until then a non-talking ordinary feline, was given the same backstory and personality as the character from the TV series (a warlock turned into a cat as punishment by the Witches' Council).

All of these elements were retained when the comic was {{Re Tool}}ed again by writer-artist Tania Del Rio, who shifted ''Sabrina'' to a more manga-ish art style and introduced a long-running dramatic storyline over the course of three and a half years. The comic was canceled in early 2009 after its hundredth issue, though Sabrina continues to make occasional cameos in other comics (including ''Jughead'' #200).

Most recently, the characters were [[DarkerAndEdgier darkened up significantly]] in the new title, ''ComicBook/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', from Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa and Francisco Francavilla, the same creators behind ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie''. Similar in several aspects, the book's tone now hews much closer to 1970's / early-80's horror, with direct shout-outs to works like ''Film/RosemarysBaby'', ''{{Film/Creepshow}}'', [[Film/HammerHorror the output of Hammer Studios]], and the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos''.

[[http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/jughead-welcomes-new-creative-team-sabrina-the-teenage-witch On September 2016]], Sabrina is set to appear in the ComicBook/ArchieComics2015 universe via ''Jughead'' #9.

* {{Adorkable}}: Harvey can fall under this at times. This is toned down in the sitcom and cranked UpToEleven in the 1999 animated series.* {{Animesque}}: Tania Del Rio's ReTool in the early 2000s, when anime was gaining popularity in America. Fans hated the artwork; however the actual writing was praised. * ArtificialHuman: It was ''originally'' explained in the comics that Sabrina was created by her "aunts" with a magic potion gone wrong (or right). Later issues retconned this to be like the TV series, where Sabrina was the daughter of her aunt's warlock brother and a mortal mother.* AscendedExtra: ** Salem, after the upgrade to TalkingAnimal. Originally, he was just Sabrina's non-talking (save for the occasional bit of InnerMonologue) pet cat who only rarely got ADayInTheLimelight. Post-ReTool, he's a major character and an active participant in the stories.** To some extent, Zelda as well. In the original comics she was often left out of stories altogether, to the point where it would sometimes appear that Hilda was Sabrina's only aunt. Later comics gave Zelda more attention and more to do.* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: The early Sabrina comics had witches operating on that principle and preforming mean tricks on mortals. Sabrina's the exception and often gets in trouble for doing good deeds. She's also considered ''homely'' due to an "ugly curse" thanks to the witches backwards thinking. * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A comic book cover shows Sabrina surrounded by bubbles and dressed as a valkyrie.-->'''Sabrina:''' This isn't what I meant in wanting to be in a soap opera.* BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame: A story has Sabrina caddying for the Head Witch Enchantra. And this game is ''really'' bizarre, taking place in the Other Realm, with both players using magic. Sabrina helps by zapping up a set of spell-resistant modern golf wear for Enchantra. * BreakoutCharacter: Originally introduced as a one-off character in the 1960s, Sabrina became one of Archie's major secondary characters over the years, often having her own comic book, several animated series and, most famously, her own sitcom in the late 90s/early 2000s.* BurnTheWitch: In a story, Sabrina thinks that her aunts had a great life in the "good old days" and as a result is given a magic mirror that can let her go back in time to colonial Salem. This trope is pretty much averted while there. Sabrina first comes across a witch stuck in the stocks and releases her. Sabrina is then put in the stocks herself for not stopping the witch's escape and is released by a perverted dude who demands a kiss for saving her. She's caught turning him into a toad and has to escape an angry mob that calls for her to be hanged.* CatStereotype: Salem was traditionally a completely orange cat; however due to the 90s sitcom show he is always black nowadays, usually with some sort of white markings. He's a sarcastic, somewhat mischievous cat who is actually a warlock cursed to live as a cat due to the crimes he did. He's also Sabrina's {{Familiar}}. * CatsAreSnarkers: Salem.* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: ** Della the Head Witch. This is due to {{Retcon}} as the manga-based comics and [[WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries later]] [[WesternAnimation/SabrinaSecretsOfATeenageWitch cartoons]] introduce Queen Seles and Enchantra as the leaders of the witches respectively.** Ambrose, Sabrina's cousin that doesn't appear in any of the later media spinoffs; his role in the comics since the 1990s has largely been replaced by Salem.* ComicBookTime: As the other Archie series, Sabrina has been a teenage witch for fifty years.* CrossOver: Many Sabrina stories from the early '70s had her interacting with Archie and the gang. She still occasionally shows up in Archie stories. In Jughead #200 (2010), Sabrina reveals to Jughead that she's a witch, which is made use of in a follow-up story.* CuteWitch: Sabrina sometimes appeared in the elementary school-set Little Archie stories, where she'd be billed as "Little Sabrina: That Cute Little Witch." Of course, she's cute as her usual teenaged self, too. * DarkerAndEdgier: ** From 1972 to 1974, Archie published ''Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as Told By Sabrina''. It had the odd combination of [[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics284.html straight-up horror stories]] with art in the familiar Archie house style. Sabrina plays the role of Horror Host. One story in particular stands out, featuring a boy who teases a stutterer at school. The kindly teacher happens to be a witch, and gives him an enchanted book that ''melts his face off'', and possibly kills him! The story probably violated several rules under UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode, but somehow gained the CCA seal of approval (perhaps because Archie pretty much ''ran'' the CCA?)** ''Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' by ''ComicBook/AfterlifeWithArchie'' writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is a horror twist on ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. * DemotedToExtra: ** Cousin Ambrose seems to have fallen prey to this, in favor of the increased use of Salem as a supporting character.** Sabrina herself is this in a meta-way. Since TheNineties she's been on-and-off compared to the main Archie's crew. Most of her last few appearances have only been crossover cameos.* DependingOnTheArtist:** Sabrina is consistently blond but what shade has constantly changed over the past few decades. Likewise her hairstyle has changed multiple times, though her classic bob haircut is the norm.** Whether Zelda has [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair green hair]] or not.** Salem has been depicted as a black cat for twenty years now but the specifics aren't concrete. Is he completely black or does he have white patches? If so, how do they look?* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first ''Sabrina'' [[http://www.themarysue.com/archie-sabrina-50th/2/ comic]] emphasizes Sabrina's witchy qualities, such as finding joy in magically tormenting her classmates, demonstrating inabilities to cry or drown, and dodging romance out of fear for losing her powers. Each of these elements would soon become either underplayed or eliminated, to help make Sabrina a more relatable character.* GenderBender: In the ''Archie'' story "The Great Switcheroo", Salem casts a spell that changes the sex of everybody in Riverdale. The story plays a bit like a GenderFlip in execution, as none of the transformed characters know what their "true" sex is supposed to be, but it "really" happened, and Sabrina's eventual reversal spell isn't actually a ResetButton. There's even video evidence suggesting that the gang spent a day as the opposite sex, even if none of them remember it. Sabrina herself remains a girl in the story.[[note]]''Archie'' #636 (2012)[[/note]]* HairColorDissonance: Sabrina originally had white hair but it seems they were going for "platinum blonde". * TheHecateSisters: In the earlier comics, Hilda is portrayed dressed as and behaving in a more stereotypical witch manner, including being cranky, disliking mortals (particularly Sabrina's boyfriend Harvey), and prone to using her powers for revenge or resolving petty disputes. In the earlier comics, Zelda (like Hilda) also was dressed in stereotypical witch's clothes, but unlike Hilda, was the more compassionate and kindly of the two. In the original comics, Zelda was short and stout with green hair. Sabrina is a well-meaning girl, but she struggles with constant pressure to be "bad" from all the other witches around her, especially her aunts, as well as learning to master her powers. * HorrorHost: Sabrina, in ''Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as Told By Sabrina''.* HumansAreUgly: Witches occasionally refer to Sabrina as being ugly. Which is really weird considering Della... This is explained early on as being the result of an "ugly curse" being place on her by a mean warlock. Of course in the witch world this results her being beautiful as they operate on an BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad mentality.* IntercontinuityCrossover: With, of all things, ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', in a story that spanned across [[http://www.sonicscene.net/comics/archie/sabrina28/01.jpg an issue of the Sabrina comic]] and [[http://archive.sonichq.net/comics/images/covers/specials/large/sss10.jpg a Sonic Super Special comic.]]* MagicalGesture: The action Sabrina performs to cast a spell varies DependingOnTheWriter. Sometimes she tugs her earlobe, sometimes she points her index finger, sometimes she snaps her fingers.* MagicalGirl: Obviously. Complete with talking animal companion.* MsFanservice: Della the Head Witch, whose outfit from the early '70s on consisted solely of a swimsuit, boots and a cape.* ProgressivelyPrettier: Sabrina's aunts, who originally were depicted as conventional looking witches, were given makeovers in the late 90s, presumably either to update their look or to match their more normal looking portrayals in [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch the TV series]]. Hilda lost her haggard, skinny appearance and long nose, and Zelda went from being heavy-set to slim, with both losing their traditional witches' clothes/hats in favor of modern women's fashions a la Sabrina. The [[WesternAnimation/SabrinaSecretsOfATeenageWitch most recent cartoon]] subverts this trope by returning the pair to their fat and skinny figures, only inverted, but keeps them looking vaguely like Sabrina and in [[NewAgeRetroHippie clothing fitting]] modern witches.* RebelliousSpirit: Especially apparent during the 1960s and '70s, when Sabrina constantly defied the status quo of witches causing evil and mayhem by trying to magically help people instead.* ReTool: Several over the series' run:** A new "Sabrina" comic series was introduced shortly after the debut of the 1996 live-action sitcom. This series ran for 32 issues, between 1997 and December 1999. The new series incorporated elements from the live-action sitcom, including modernized fashions and appearances for the aunts, and Salem's personality and backstory.** Starting in January 2000, Archie rebooted the series from #1, this time based upon the 2000 animated series (the final issue of the 1997-1999 series had acted as a transition between the two adaptations). This new title was simply titled ''Sabrina'' and lasted for 37 issues; issue #38 acted as a transition issue, as the series was retitled ''Sabrina The Teenage Witch'' and resumed the conventional high school setting. However, elements of the live-action sitcom (Salem's backstory, the modernized appearances of Hilda and Zelda) were retained, along with the name of Sabrina's hometown (Greendale) from the animated series being incorporated into the comics. ** Again in the 2004, with issue #58, the comics were taken over by Tania del Rio with her manga-inspired art and design style. Concurrent with this, the comic ceased to be connected to either the live-action or animated series. The comics were then released featuring new characters and a slightly more serious, continuity-heavy plot. The manga Sabrina story wrapped up at issue #100 in 2009, albeit with a few unresolved subplots.* SexySantaDress: In [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/holidayspectacular_6024.jpg a comic cover]] that showed her in a {{pastiche}} of stuff from different holidays.* SmartAnimalAverageHuman: The snarky and wise cat Salem and the average witch girl Sabrina, who is perky and well-meaning.* SpellMyNameWithAnS: When the comic came out it was "Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch". Over time the spelling of "teenage" changed and with it the series' title.* TalkingAnimal: Salem, in modern comics; earlier comics (made before the TV show) showed Salem as a non-talking ordinary cat, akin to Jughead's pet Hot Dog.* TheyKilledKenny: If Sabrina is in a DarkerAndEdgier AlternateUniverse story you can bet she will be killed or in some other way incapacitated so as not to have a simple DeusExMachina ready to wave her hands. * VengefulVendingMachine: In one oneshot, Aunt Hilda gets cheated by a vending machine and kicks it in frustration. The machine retaliates by ''punching'' her, and Sabrina remarks that they're making vending machines that can fight back.* WickedWitch: Hilda Spellman with her pointy hat, long nose, warts, crooked teeth, flying broomstick and propensity to put hexes and curses on anyone she sees fit to. Her sister, Zelda, however, is far more the fairy godmother type. This naturally before the late 1990s; with the success of the sitcom, Archie averted this by adapting some of the sitcom's elements into the comics. Thus, they gave Hilda and Zelda makeovers that made them look and act more like typical modern women. * WriterOnBoard: The Sabrina stories written and drawn by Al Hartley are full of {{Anvilicious}} religious messages, including a story where Sabrina learns that a "lack of faith" has ruined Christmas for Santa Claus. How this squares with Sabrina's witchcraft is never explained.----

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